Canoe
by pride-and-loyalty
Summary: Quick oneshot since for me its July 12! Yay! It's about Percy taking Annabeth out to the sea and well, hanging out. Rather fluffy. It's totally fangirl-worthy, though.


**A oneshot because of Annabeth's bday. It's going to be SERIOUSLY short.**

 **Enjoy!**

Annabeth _knew_ something was up when all her half-siblings started snickering and shooting knowing looks at one another. For supposedly the smartest bunch in the whole camp, the Athena Cabin sure wasn't discreet.

"You should get ready quickly," one of the newer requites told her before bursting off in giggles.

"What? Why?" she answered sharply. She glared at her cabin. "You guys are acting ridiculous."

They just shifted their books and continued laughing.

Annabeth tugged at her oversized sleeping shirt and stood up. "Where's Malcolm?"

A stocky boy smirked up at her. "In the Mini Bunker 9. But are you sure you want to find him right now? Shouldn't you be _going outside_?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes and strode past him. "Malcolm? Malcolm!" She slipped into the "testing" room where Athena kids tried out inventions and other ideas or, occasionally, made poster boards. "Our cabin is acting weird. What happened?"

Malcolm shot her an amused look. "Maybe the Apollo kids accidentally cursed them." But the corner of his mouth quirked up, revealing that he was in on….whatever this was.

She crossed her arms. "I'd expected you to be above this all. Fine, I will go outside." Right before she made it out the door, she noticed a small piece of paper taped to it. It had a familiar, what-is-this-language scrawl that eventually signed off in Ancient Greek. It read: "Annabeth, meet me by the dock at nine. You might get wet. Your beloved Seaweed Brain."

Her cheeks tinged red and the whole cabin collectively oohed. She stilled herself and marched out the door.

"Percy Jackson!" she yelled. "Get over here!" Other campers looked on with interest before recognizing her annoyed tone and scurrying away.

Percy raced out from the Hades cabin and found her immediately. His sea smell intoxicated her, dulling her senses so they could only pinpoint him, and she almost forgot what she wanted to say. Key word: almost.

"Seriously? Why did you have to tape the note INSIDE the door?! I have a cabin full of nosy siblings! You're the only one who lives alone."

The tips of his ears turned red. "Oops." His mournful puppy-like frown disintegrated her heart and she wanted to leap into his arms. Gritting her teeth, she took a step back from him. "Well? What's this big surprise?"

Percy's easy smirk returned, his eyes lighting up again like polished emeralds. "In your pajamas?"

She glanced down, and it was her turn to be embarrassed. She hunted around her head for a comeback and replied, "I can still get wet in this. I won't mind."

He laughed and touched her arm, shooting rays of giddiness through her sternum. "Of course. Anyway, the surprise isn't ready. It's not nine yet."

"Oh." She actually blushed this time.

Percy cocked his head. "At a loss of words, Wise Girl?" He ducked a swat and came up with a solution. "You can change at my cabin, and its almost nine."

So she borrowed a pair of jeans and a comfy hoodie from him and headed out to the door as planned. She completely did not expect Percy lounging in a canoe. "Your carriage awaits."

Ever the gentleman, he got up to help her in, and did all the rowing out to deeper waters. "Well, what do you think?"

She had to smile. "Interesting. And why am I sitting in this canoe?"

He draped a muscular arm over her shoulders. "You'll see."

"You know, I have that ominous feeling that Poseidon will burst out and send us off on a quest."

Percy flashed her a confident grin. "Oh, he won't be bothering us today." He skimmed his hand on the flat surface of the water. The long, elegant fingers came up completely dry, which still surprised Annabeth a little, to this day.

"Well, there still are a lot of others to bother us."

A gentle waved rocked them. "We can hide in a bubble." He leaned in, obviously referencing to his sixteenth birthday.

"Hide?" Annabeth shook her head disapprovingly. "We can face them."

He leaned against her arm. "True. But a bubble would be nice."

She pushed him away. "Are your ulterior motives the only reason we're on this canoe?"

Percy scoffed. "No. A small part, maybe."

Annabeth couldn't resist leaning against him because she already missed his comforting touch. "Guys," she muttered under her breath.

The canoe shifted from side to side as they started arguing. But it was playful, and when Percy swooped a kiss to her cheek she quieted.

She took his hand and experimentally dipped their linked fingers into the glassy ocean. Her hand remained dry but strangely aware of the cold water streaming alongside it. She stared at the clear surface, trying to determine how much could she feel, when icy water suddenly seeped coldness to her bones. She gasped and yanked her hand out of the sea. Then she realized Percy was laughing. He purposely took back the son-of-Poseidon benefits from her. She shrieked in actual anger and hit him _hard_ on his chest.

"Ow." His puppy dog pout didn't work anymore. She punched his arm too.

They started another silly argument, though a lot less friendly than before.

-line break-

"I hear something." Annabeth lazily sat up between Percy's legs. She strained her ears. The faint ring/squeal sounded again.

And then something broke the surface of the water. It was a smooth gray peak. And then a graceful crescent slowly surfaced, leaping out into the multicolored sky as a curved brushstroke. It landed with a soft splash, only for another dolphin to fly up behind it.

Annabeth's eyes glowed in excitement. "Wow." Her eyes stayed trained on them as they soared closer and closer. "They're bottlenoses," she murmured. "Both males. Strange of them to be alone."

Percy's hand landed on her knee. "You're an encyclopedia, Wise Girl."

She blushed. She once was the kid who studied dictionaries, thesauruses, and encyclopedias in her free time. But then the dolphins took a slight turn.

"I have got to record this," she whispered breathlessly. "Marie will be so excited. She's my half-sister who loves animals. Her works added so much to the biology section in our library."  
Percy rolled his eyes. "I'm not surprised Athena campers write books. I bet she could be a professor."

Annabeth flicked his arm. "Yes, she could, and you should respect our brilliance. But I know she's not big on marine animals, since a crocodile ate most of what she was able to study here."

He snickered. "Yeah, that." He sank into her. "But Annabeth, if you see something so amazing," he flicked his hand and a creamy blue scallop shell came overboard on a small wave, "you should just enjoy it. And relax when you can."

She folded the shell into her palm and smiled up at him. "As if I'll have that chance again."

He tightened his arms around her. "Then I'll make it my goal so you have lots of these chances."

"Alright. Good luck."

"You're my luck, Annabeth."

-line break-

"You know, I actually looked into classics."

Annabeth sat up so suddenly the canoe tipped over. But Percy was, well, son of the sea so it was caught in mid-flip but a wave and righted.

Once her heartbeat slowed, she burst out with, "Really? You better not be joking."

Percy folded his hands, pleased. "Yes, really. I went into a public library and picked up a book with snippets from classics."

"How many pages? How long did it take you to read it?" Annabeth dubiously questioned.

"Uh, like, eighty pages? And I only read half a story each time I picked it up…..so….some weeks."

Annabeth didn't mind. She still stared at him in astonishment. "But why?"

"My mom was big on making me read English before her book came out. I have no idea how those two are linked, but you know her."

"Wow. I'm just really, really surprised. Was it hard reading so much?"

He offered her a pitiful pout. "Yeah."

She stroked his head. "It's okay," she murmured like a comforting mother, "it's fine. You'll recover from straining your brain cells."

He glared at her. "Haha." He paused before speaking again. "There was this really interesting poem. The Owl and the Pussy-cat."

A smile played on Annabeth's lips.

"It talked about a pair of owl and cat lovers who rowed off into the ocean and got married on an island." He returned the smile. "Well, what about it?"

"Hold up. How are you a cat?"

He pulled a Sharpie from his pocket and drew whiskers on his tanned cheeks. "See?"

Annabeth laughed. "You do have really green eyes." Her fingers weaved into his hair. "And coincidentally, black cats have green eyes."

He leaned in, piercing her with rings of ocean. "Exactly. And the owl has sharp eyes that pick out everything. I'm guessing a few are bad-tempered, too."

That broke the spell. Annabeth pulled back. "I don't think a single cat is as annoying as you."

He frowned. "Sorry. You do know what happens, right?"

Annabeth cocked her head. "Not exactly."

Percy pulled out a worn purse and a jar of honey. "Well, the owl and the cat have a lot of money and honey. And the owl, over a guitar, proclaims her love to the pussy-cat. Here." He handed her a small guitar hiding behind him.

Annabeth grinned at how hard he was trying and nestled the guitar between her legs. " 'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,/What a beautiful Pussy you are,/you are,/you are!/What a beautiful Pussy you are!' "

Percy gaped. "So you do know!"

Annabeth shrugged. "Our cabin once collected all references to owls in famous literature and memorized the actual bit. It was a small project."

Percy's jaw fell further. "A small project?"

"I'm kidding. We're too busy studying. I memorized this from school."

Percy smirked. "Well, it must've been the Fates whispering in your ear about us meeting."

She kicked him. "That's too much smart Percy in one day. Let's continue on the poem."

"They get married," he reminded her with an arched eyebrow.

"Well, we messed up so much on the poem, we should do a replacement," she replied, smirking deviously. She set aside the guitar and leaned in until their noses touched. "I do," she whispered and kissed him.

He responded back a bit slowly, but then his soft, salty lips were hers. His arms threaded around her form, and her fingers pushed deeper into his hair. Annabeth's usually bustling and calculating mind was completely blank under his taste. It was not a chaste wedding kiss. Their rapid heartbeats pulsed as they pulled each other closer and closer.

And under the bright afternoon sun, a cat with seaweed for brains and a wise owl set aside their differences to become one.

 **Yay I'm done. Have to sleep now. For some of you, Annabeth's birthday has passed or will come, but for me it has been really fun. I hope it will/was for you guys too.**

 **So, I hoped you liked this. I obviously think Percy as a horse is better, but it's just for the poem. (I was going through classics because of the holiday. Heh) The ending is pretty cheesy, sorry.**

 **Au revior,**

 **Pride-and-loyalty**


End file.
